Formula 1 intends to see its Apple distribution deal through its 2030 expiration date and "hopefully beyond," Derek Chang, president and CEO of F1 owner Liberty Media, told me at an Axios x The Race event in Austin last week.

Why it matters: The deal is a major test for sports franchises looking to potentially trade broader reach on traditional broadcast for a more strategic distribution opportunity on streaming.

Zoom in: Chang wouldn't comment on whether F1 has an opt-out agreement in place that would allow renegotiations before the deal expires, but he said the idea of an opt-out is a "moot point" because "we've got a great partner."

• Apple has performed "exactly the way we thought and frankly even better," he said.

State of play: Chang didn't address the validity of third-party metrics that suggest F1's household reach has declined since its U.S. rights moved from ESPN to Apple this season, but he said F1 views engagement as its key metric for success, not just traditional broadcast viewership.

• He said Apple's ecosystem allows it to engage fans beyond broadcast reach, "whether it's promoting the races on Apple News, Apple TV, in the Apple Store, on your iPhone."
• He pointed to "other innovative stuff they can do with the product," such as "being able to follow whatever driver you want" and "having multiple feeds." Those things "will only improve over the next few years."

Zoom out: The five-year deal, which was announced last year ahead of the Austin Grand Prix, represents a milestone in F1's U.S. growth.

• Apple is reportedly paying around $140 million for the U.S. distribution rights annually, compared with the $90 million ESPN paid for the five years prior.

The big picture: Chang said Apple's dual role as broadcaster and distribution platform gives it an advantage over traditional broadcasters who are constrained by contracts.

• He highlighted deals Apple made to allow Netflix to distribute the Canadian Grand Prix, and to put F1 races in IMAX theaters, as examples.

What to watch: Chang confirmed that F1 has contingency plans in place should upcoming races in Qatar or Abu Dhabi be disrupted by geopolitical events but wouldn't confirm a backup location.

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Several well-known philanthropies and local news groups are investing $21 million in a new investment fund aimed at helping local news businesses grow, executives told Axios.

Why it matters: It's part of a broader effort within the local news community to create investment vehicles beyond grants.

Zoom in: The new Local News Impact Investment Fund was launched by Social Finance, a nonprofit that also serves as registered investment advisor.

• The group will manage the fund and oversee its investments, Kirstin Hill, president and COO of Social Finance, told Axios.
• The purpose of the fund is to help local news outlets build growth strategies and invest in new technologies that help expand their revenue sources to build sustainable business models.

Between the lines: The fund has raised $21 million in initial commitments from Social Finance, Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation and Press Forward.

• For MacArthur, which has a long history of deploying grants to local news, the fund represents its first financial investment in local news through its impact investing program.
• The investment draws on MacArthur's $750 million pool of catalytic capital, which is designed to support mission-driven investments that conventional lenders might consider too risky.

By the numbers: The fund will deploy investments that range from $500,000 to $2 million for non-profit and for-profit local news outlets, executives said.

• The fund aims to grow to $30 million–$35 million over the next two years, per Hill.

The big picture: More local news groups are looking to diversify their investment strategies away from being heavily reliant on grants.

• "It's not only grants or bust," Knight Foundation president and CEO Maribel Pérez Wadsworth told Axios.
• Pérez Wadsworth said the fund serves as a "real confidence builder for the sector," proving local news can be an investable industry capable of producing financial returns alongside societal impact.

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Tech titans and Hollywood heavyweights are racing to build products and partnerships that can attract creators and eyeballs from YouTube.

Why it matters: YouTube's dominance has redefined the economics of entertainment, forcing other platforms and studios to find new ways to compete.

Driving the news: Instagram is testing videos up to 90 minutes long and bringing the platform to Apple TV as part of its expansion into connected TVs.

• The new product, called Features, supports horizontal videos, including podcasts and episodic programming.

Flashback: TikTok in 2024 began testing hourlong video uploads, which are still available. But unlike Instagram, TikTok no longer offers a TV app.

Zoom in: Video podcasts have become a baseline in the creator economy, prompting streamers to chase established shows and their talent.

• Netflix this week hired former Apple executive Steve Wilson to oversee podcasts, following deals with Spotify, iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports that brought shows like "The Breakfast Club" to the service.
• Disney is adding video versions of iHeartPodcasts, including "Hey Jonas!" and "Las Culturistas," to Disney+ and Hulu.
• Amazon has brought podcasts to Prime Video through deals with creators, including Jason and Travis Kelce's "New Heights."

The big picture: YouTube's advantage lies in its model where creators distribute content for free, share in ad revenue and negotiate their own sponsorship deals.

• Traditional streamers operate as closed ecosystems, curating programming and negotiating individual licensing and production deals.

The bottom line: For years, Hollywood viewed reach as the ultimate test of success. Now, as reach has become ubiquitous with smart TVs and phones, it's about engagement, where YouTube dominates.

• YouTube captured a record 15.8% of all U.S. television viewing in August, up from 14.2% in July, per Nielsen.
• That's more than Disney's 9.3% share across its streaming and traditional TV properties, followed by Netflix at 7.7%.

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Anthropic has no focus "on developing video and image generation models, despite their commercial appeal," the company said in its S-1 IPO filing yesterday.

Why it matters: While other AI giants, such as Meta, Google and TikTok's parent company ByteDance, continue to invest in video generation, firms eyeing public listings like OpenAI and Anthropic need to be more selective about their resources.

• OpenAI shut down its AI video app Sora this spring, citing a narrower corporate focus on compute and enterprise opportunities.

The big picture: Also missing from Anthropic's S-1 is any sort of plan to build an ads business.

• Advertising is essential to supporting the cost of free consumer tech products. It's what's funding virtually all of Meta and Google's AI ambitions.
• Anthropic's business today is mostly supported by usage-based enterprise subscriptions. If its business slows, investors could push it to explore advertising, a market that shows no signs of slowing down.

Reality check: Anthropic also faces mounting pressure from authors and music publishers over copyright issues. Video generation could invite a lot more scrutiny.

• The firm reached a landmark $1.5 billion settlement with authors and book publishers over pirated works last year.
• Major music publishers within Sony, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, have also sued the firm.

Yes, but: Anthropic concedes that a narrower focus could hamper its ability remain competitive long term.

• "Our concentration in a limited number of products and applications, as well as our focused development strategy within specific areas of the broader AI landscape, reduces our ability to mitigate business risks through diversification."

The bottom line: Facing enormous computing costs, AI giants looking to go public need to exercise more restraint. Hollywood seems like a reasonable market to avoid, for now.

Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway are launching a weekly newsletter Nov. 2 called Pivot Post, an extension of their hit business and tech podcast "Pivot."

Why it matters: The newsletter gives the duo another platform to engage fans directly beyond their podcast and live events.

Zoom in: Pivot Post will be delivered free to email subscribers every Monday. It will be sent via Beehiiv, a newsletter platform for independent creators and publishers, a spokesperson for the company confirmed.

• The newsletter gives Swisher and Galloway a new way to answer audience questions about how the business and tech stories covered on the podcast impact their lives and communities.
• The pair will respond directly to select audience questions, and they'll also tap experts who appear on the show for support.

Yes, but They aren't building a newsletter audience from scratch.

• A spokesperson for Vox Media, which distributes "Pivot" as part of its podcast network, said, "We've started gathering emails as part of our marketing for the Pivot tour, and will continue building the list on the tour and by getting the word out on the show."

Between the lines: Pivot Post kicks off the pair's national live podcast tour, which so far has proven to be a lucrative business.

• Swisher said at On Air Fest in February that she generated roughly $2.5 million from a week of live shows, which she described as relatively inexpensive to produce.

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